Sunday to Monday (Part 2)

Sunday to Monday (Part 2)

Our day two is in full swing with emotions, excitement, and capture the flag. The extraordinary amount of magic that began yesterday has blossomed into a bright and sparkly day. Some highlights include building a village to save a butterfly, playing a gigantic game of tag, breakfast for dinner, and blue versus green all-camp capture the flag. And we started making our capes…glitter, glue, sticky letters, and a whole lot of creativity.

Wake-up was wild, wonderful, and full of Wonka: Buttercup and Squeaks greeted the morning and our campers with song, dance, and a giant Wonka bar costume. We moved to a tasty breakfast (who doesn’t love a Dutch-baby?) and then to a tag extravaganza. I want to thank Beaker for her endless knowledge of fun games and incredible teaching skills—who knew toilet tag was a thing?

I would have to say that 50 person capture the flag game with a little color-war was the highlight of the night for many campers. Dodging, swerving, ducking, diving are what kids do best and when you throw in some competitive, goofy, and wild college students you are bound to make something fun. Watching each camper glow with plans for glory and a team victory warmed my spirit. The amount of teamwork and communication expressed in 40 minutes of a game was something I think we adults forget. When we play we learn, and when it’s fun, it’s so much easier. But it also makes us pretty stinking tired, don’t worry mom and dad they’ll sleep really well on Friday night.

The most touching part of my day was cape making. We are all superheroes for one reason or another. It could be talking incredibly well in front of everyone while energizing, respecting, and preparing them (thank you Squeaks for your incredible leadership). It could be creating a crazy game of Whoop-ah to entertain even the too cool for school campers (thank you The Conductor). Or it could be doing everything quietly and perfectly behind the scenes (thank you NoodleRosen). But sometimes being a superhero means standing up for people you love, or holding someone’s hair when they are sick, or saying I love you before you leave. All of our campers are superheroes and it shows; now they just have the capes to prove it. Our smallest camper, Boog made a cape to honor her mommy; our camper Bear made one to show off his strength and spirit….All of those are reasons we do camp. For me and our staff, all those hopes and dreams for building a lifetime of family and support are becoming more and more real.

-Zipper

About Kesem

Kesem is a nationwide community, driven by passionate college student leaders, that supports children through and beyond their parent’s cancer. By offering innovative, fun-­filled programs that foster a lasting community, we aim to ensure that every child impacted by a parent’s cancer is never alone.